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Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong (January 3, 1905 – February 2, 1961) was the first Chinese American actress to achieve stardom in a career that spanned both silent films and talkies, the stage, radio and television,Leibfried. USAsians.net even hosting her own television show at one point.SilentEra.com This is all the more remarkable considering the racist times in which she worked. Many Asian actresses have been acclaimed since, under less adverse conditions, but none have reached Wong's level. Some of her more notable silent films include a leading role in The Toll of the Sea, one of the first color films; The Thief of Bagdad which starred Douglas Fairbanks, and Piccadilly. She was also featured in some notable talkies, including Shanghai Express, which co-starred Marlene Dietrich, and Daughter of the Dragon, in which she starred opposite an Asian leading man, Sessue Hayakawa. Early in her career, she was seen as a sex symbol, a feat other Asian actresses would not match for decades. Biography Early life She was born Wong Liu Tsong 黃柳霜, Huáng Liushuang, English: Frosted Yellow Willows).[http://www.anna-may-wong.com/home.htm Frosted Yellow Willows 2007.] It can also be interpreted as Wong Lew Song, translating in English as, literally, "Second-Daughter Yellow Butterfly". Her parents gave her the 'English' name Anna May. Wong was born on Flower Street, an integrated, mainly Irish and German community one block north of Chinatown, in Los Angeles, California. Wong was the daughter of Wong Sam Sing and his wife, Lee Gon Toy. Her parents were second generation Chinese Americans,Sweet. 2008. though by the laws of the time, they were still not seen as American citizens. Her father ran a laundromat called 'Sam Kee Laundry'. In her early childhood, the family moved to a neighborhood on Figueroa Street having a more Mexican and Italian mix. There were now two hills between the new home and Chinatown; this helped influence Wong to assimilate further into American culture. Around the time of her childhood, filming for "flickers" began relocating from New York City to the Los Angeles area. Movies were being shot constantly in and around Wong's neighborhood and she soon began going to the Nickeoldeons. She would skip Chinese school and use the tip money she got from delivering her father's dry-cleaning to see the films. Her favorite stars were Pearl White and Ruth Roland. Her father was very traditional and not happy with her movie obsession. He felt it interfered with her studies and when he found out she had skipped school for the nickelodeon, he would spank her with a bamboo stick. Despite this, Wong decided to pursue a career in film. At nine years of age, she would walk up and beg filmmakers for parts, earning her the name "Curious Chinese Child." Wong kept the family's last name and adopted her English name for her stage name. Early career In 1919, with the help of a friend of her father (who was not told) who had movie connections, Wong landed a role in Alla Nazimova's 1919 silent film The Red Lantern. Wong had an uncredited role as an extra who carries a lantern.PictureShowMan.com She worked steadily for the next two years as an extra in various movies, including Priscilla Dean and Colleen Moore pictures. Her father was not pleased and only reluctantly let her pursue her new career. He demanded that she always have an adult guardian at the studio and that she be locked in her dressing room between scenes if there were no other Asians in the cast. She initially tried to keep up both her film career and schooling, but found it too hard and dropped out of Los Angeles High School to pursue acting full time. It took until the age of 16, in 1921, to receive her first screen credit, for the film Bits of Life, in which she played Lon Chaney, Sr.'s wife Toy Ling. In 1922, at the age of 17, she received her first leading role, in the early Technicolor movie The Toll of the Sea. It was the seventh color film overall and the first to be shot entirely in color, in the two strip process. The story was based very loosely on Madama Butterfly. Wong was praised for her subtle acting (much like Mary Pickford, which was contrary to the standard acting methods of the time). Wong's role in The Toll of the Sea should by all accounts have been her breakthrough role. However due to her ethnicity and the lack of more than one leading Asian man, she was blocked from leading lady status. She spent the next few years in supporting roles in such films as Lilies of the Field, Thundering Dawn, and Drifting. Stardom Finally, at age 19, she was cast as a Mongol slave in the Douglas Fairbanks picture, The Thief of Bagdad. Directed by Raoul Walsh for United Artists, the film took five weeks to shoot. Although Wong had only a supporting role, her brief appearances on screen caught the attention of audiences and critics alike. The film grossed more then $2 million and helped introduce Wong to the public, albeit in a stereotypical 'Dragon Lady' role. For four years, Wong was again cast in nothing but bit parts. Her only notable roles during this time are 1927's Mr. Wu (in which the yellowface practice cost her the lead), and The Silk Bouquet which was released by Fairmont Pictures in 1926. In 1927, the latter's title was changed to The Dragon Horse. The film is now lost and all that is known is that it was a race movie and most likely had an all-Chinese cast. Move to Europe Tired of being relegated to supporting roles due to her ethnicity, Wong had had enough and traveled to Europe in 1928. She was one of the first stars to do so; later, she was followed by Louise Brooks, Josephine Baker, and Paul Robeson. She performed on stage before heading to England. In 1929, Wong made what is today considered her finest movie, Piccadilly. Most critics agree it was one of the best silents ever made. It was also the film in which Wong gave her finest and most liberated performance. Wong received the most attention, even though Gilda Gray was given top billing. Wong's first talkie came in 1930 with The Flame of Love. She recorded the film in French, English, and German; an incredible feat considering most silent stars never made the transition, let alone in three languages. Greta Garbo would later do a similar thing with her first talkie. Wong's talkies, particularly the German versions, received rave reviews. Return to Hollywood American studios were looking for fresh European talent. Ironically, Wong caught their eye and she was offered a contract with Paramount Studios in 1930. Wong was enticed by the promise of lead roles and top billing, and she returned to the U.S., where she performed on Broadway for 167 performances of On the Spot. Her first leading film role was in Daughter of the Dragon, a Fu Manchu picture. She was back in a stereotyped role, but played it well. She starred for the only time alongside the sole other significant Asian actor of the era, Sessue Hayakawa. In 1932, Wong again played a smaller part in Shanghai Express alongside Marlene Dietrich. Though Dietrich was the star, most critics agree Wong stole the show despite her few scenes. This has become one of Wong's better remembered roles for which she received $6,000, while Dietrich's salary was more than $78,000. Wong soon became disenchanted when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer deemed her 'too Chinese to play a Chinese' in the film The Son-Daughter; Helen Hayes was eventually given the role. Annoyed, Wong returned to Britain to make four films. Returning to Hollywood in 1934, she made The Java Head which is another critical favorite. However, onscreen Wong and her white husband never kiss. In 1937, Wong suffered her ultimate insult. Casting began for the movie The Good Earth, in which the director wished to recruit an all-Asian cast. Wong was up for the role of O-Lan, and screen tested several times for MGM, but each time she was dismissed as 'not the right type of Asian'. The Chinese government also advised the studio against casting her, due to their displeasure with her image. Luise Rainer was eventually cast, and won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. No Asian actor or actress has ever won an Academy Award. To finish out her contract, Wong made a string of forgettable movies, but for once her roles were not stereotypical. In Daughter of Shanghai (1937), she played the Asian-American female lead, as well as in Dangerous to Know (1938). She also appeared in major roles in King of Chinatown (1939) and Island of Lost Men (1939). Later years Wong's career as a leading lady ended during World War II. She starred in Bombs over Burma (1942) and The Lady from Chungking (1943), both anti-Japanese propaganda. The films were made by the lowest-of-the-low, poverty row studios, Producers Releasing Corp. When the yellowface practice became prevalent among studios, Wong gave up on films for most the 1940s. She wrote a cookbook titled New Chinese Recipes in 1942, one of the first Chinese cookbooks printed in the U.S. The proceeds from the cookbook were dedicated to United China Relief. In 1949, Wong finally returned in a B movie called Impact. In 1956, she got a long-forgotten chance to play a role she had previously lost out on in Hollywood, as the Asian blackmailer in Somerset Maugham's The Letter. The director was William Wyler, the same man who had rejected her when he made the 1940 film version. She was set to return to Hollywood, with the large role of Auntie Liang in Hunter's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song; however she died before both films began production. Her final film appearance was in the Lana Turner film, Portrait in Black in 1960. Business ventures Wong and the public alike figured after The Thief of Baghdad that this was the start of something big for her as an actress. In March 1924, newly aged 19, she signed a deal creating Anna May Wong Productions hoping to raise financing for films about Chinese myths. Unfortunately her new partner, a man named Forrest B. Creighton, was not true to his word and after a few lawsuits the company was dissolved. Wong was the first Asian female to attempt her own production company and at the time only the second Asian to do so (Sessue Hayakawa had founded one a few years before; only his did not fold). Salary Wong was given star treatment in the credits but not in her paycheck. She would often receive high billing but little importance in the film. Even when she was a star she was often paid way less than not only her counterparts, but her supporting actors as well. In Daughter of the Dragon she made $6,000 to Hayakawa's $10,000 and Oland's $12,000 (who is only in the film for 23 minutes). For Shanghai Express she made $6,000, while Dietrich made $78,166. In her paltry PRC deal she made $4,500 for two films; all of which she donated to the China War Relief. Other performance work Stage and Broadway Wong's talent spread beyond the big screen. In 1929 and 1930 she starred in plays in London, The Circle of Chalk, with the young Laurence Olivier; Vienna in the title role of "Tschun Tschi", and New York on Broadway with the drama On the Spot. The performance ran for 167 performances and she would later film the play as 'Dangerous to Know'. During her return to Hollywood in 1930 Wong turned constantly to the stage and cabaret for a creative outlet. Singer and cabaret Wong also was a singer. Her cabaret act, which included songs in Cantonese, French, English, German, Danish, Swedish and other languages, took her from the U.S. to Europe to Australia through the 30s and 40s. Television From August 27 to November 21 1951, she starred in her own television series, The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (using her birth name for the title character), for the Dumont Television Network. In the show she played a Detective in a role written specifically for her. The show made her one of the first and only Asian females to ever do so. In 1957 she hosted a show of clips from her trips to China in the 1930s for ABC. It was titled "Bold Journey." Wong did guest spots on The Barbara Stanwyck Show and Adventures in Paradise. Radio Wong appeared on radio several times. In 1939 she appeared on Orson Welles 'Campbell Playhouse' to perform as Peony, in 'The Patriot' alongside Ray Collins and Everett Sloane. Image During her career in silents Wong was seen as an 'exotic sex symbol'. Unlike her male counterparts (Sessue Hayakawa, Rudolph Valentino) there were few actresses who fulfilled such a role beyond a vamp image. To Americans Wong always appeared "foreign born" though she had indeed been born and raised in California (though by the laws of that era she was not a citizen). Wong tried to counter this by wearing flapper styled outfits and speaking in flapper slang. Annoyed Wong said in an interview: "A lot of people, when they first meet me, are surprised that I speak and write English without difficulty. But why shouldn't I? I was born right here in Los Angeles and went to the public schools here. I speak English without any accent at all. But my parents complain that the same cannot be said of my Chinese. Although I have gone to Chinese schools, and always talk to my father and mother in our native tongue, it is said that I speak Chinese with an English accent!" To Asians Wong was seen as unattractive. The very features that made her beautiful to Caucasian audiences were seen as 'odd' to them. She had big eyes and reached 5'7. Her actions to seem 'More American' also did not help as Chinese women of the time were supposed to be demure housewives. In both America and Europe she was seen as a fashion icon and was most welcomed into high society. She was a constant reference in gossip columns usually in a positive light. In 1934, the Mayfair Mannequin Society of New York voted her (to much protest) "The World's Best Dressed Woman". In 1938 Look Magazine named her "The World's most beautiful Chinese girl." In France everything Wong did, said, and wore was copied immediately. Racism and racial barriers Barriers in personal life Wong was in a unique position due to her ethnicity yet American birth, and her fame in the English speaking world. Personally and professionally Wong was given trouble by several Anti Asian laws that went into place around the time of her birth. Though Wong's parents had immigrated from China she had in fact been born in the United States which by any other race would have made her a citizen. Under these various acts she was not allowed to become a citizen, marry anyone who was not Chinese, own land, or anything else a white American citizen would be able to do. These laws were not repelled until 1947. To make matters harder the community in which she came from frowned upon her lifestyle. She was expected to be a demure housewife; married to a Chinese man. To her community acting was on par with being a prostitute. If she married a Chinese man she would have been expected to give her career up; something she could not fathom. Barriers in career More so than her male counterpart Sessue Hayakawa, her career greatly suffered because of anti-miscegenation laws in place all over the US at the time. Beyond Hayakawa there were no other leading Asian men in the silent era. This meant mostly white actors would play in yellowface even in a movie that would need a cast of all Asians. With a white actor in yellowface these laws meant Wong could not share an onscreen kiss with any actor in yellowface.Anna May Wong Society So unless Asian leading men could be found and profitable; Wong could not be a leading lady or a true vamp especially after the Hays Code came into place. Due to perceptions of her being 'foreign' Anna was constantly cast as an exotic vamp. Many of her characters were 'vamps out for revenge'; eventually Wong grew tired of her race being portrayed as 'sneaky' and 'evil'. She did her best to fight such stereotypes by teaching co-stars how to act more Asian; and less stereotypical. Reception amongst Asians Chinese in America Many Chinese Americans thought of themselves as "Chinese living in America" mainly due to the anti-Chinese attitude of the American culture. Wong was seen as 'too American' to many Asians; which was not helped by her attempt to be seen as American and not a Chinese stereotype in her films. In her memoir Wong referred to herself as, "Americanized Chinese" an attitude she had carried since the 20s. Reception in Asia Wong arrived in China in 1936 with open arms from the cultural elite of Beijing and Shanghai. This being the country to which she legally belonged Wong was given a mixed reception. Wong had to abandon a trip to her parents' ancestral village when her progress was blocked by a crowd of protesters. Someone in the crowed denounced her with "Down with Huang Liu Tsong--the stooge that disgraces China. Don't let her go ashore." While she had many fans she also had many critics who painted her as 'not Asian enough'. When casting for the 1937 movie The Good Earth Wong was considered for the role of O-Lan. Not only did she face racism from MGM but the Chinese Government advised against casting her as well. The official told MGM, "very bad... whenever she appears in a movie, the newspapers print her picture with the caption "Anna May again loses face for China." When Shanghai Express played in the Shanghai a local newspaper called Wong, "the female traitor to China," and a journal in Tianjin carried the headline: "Paramount Uses Anna May Wong to Embarrass China Again." Said of her sexuality, "Her role as a sexually available Chinese woman, would eventually earn her resentful criticism in China." Wong was stung by the attacks from her 'homeland'. "It's a pretty sad situation," she said, "to be rejected by the Chinese because I am too American." Reception in United States In many of Wong's American films she ended up with bit parts though had she been white she would have had the leading lady status. When MGM was casting for The Good Earth (1937), she was passed up for the lead female role of O-lan because Paul Muni, an actor of European descent, was to play Wang Lung, O-lan's husband. Even though Muni was to wear heavy make up to look Asian, industry regulations prevented her from playing romantic roles opposite actors of different ethnicity. Instead, the role Wong hoped for went to Luise Rainer. MGM offered Wong the part of Lotus, but Wong refused to be the only Chinese American playing the only negative character, stating: "...I won't play the part. If you let me play O-lan, I'll be very glad. But you're asking me - with Chinese blood - to do the only unsympathetic role in the picture featuring an all-American cast portraying Chinese characters." Sadly it was a story repeated many times in Wong's career including films such as Mr. Wu. Another major hypocrisy by the studio system was the fact that the red headed, white, Myrna Loy was seen as the 'go to girl' for Asian films; even having Wong cast in a few small parts for Loy's films. Though she wasn't always typecast as a villain she did have several roles of the 'vamp out for revenge' nature. In American films it was hard for her to break past such roles due to stereotypes and the non-existent amount of Asian leading men during most of her career. However compared to other ethnic actresses of her day (there were virtually no other Asian actresses until the end of the century) she was lucky of sorts. Wong was able to play comedy, drama, sex symbol, and even lead in several movies. Not being able to play Asian, or kiss a white man, Hollywood was running out of parts for Wong. David Schwartz, the chief curator of the Museum of the Moving Image, notes, "She built up a level of stardom in Hollywood, but Hollywood didn’t know what to do with her."TimeOut By her final role in the 1960 Lana Turner film, Portrait in Black, Wong still found her self stereotyped. One press release explained her long absence from films with a supposed proverb, which they claimed was passed down to Wong by her mother: "Don't be photographed too much or you'll lose your soul." When asked in person about the quote, Wong's answer showed her weariness with the stereotyping: "I was so tired of the parts I had to play." Unfortunately when she died soon after this quote was inserted into many obituaries making her 'foreign-ness' follow her into death. Reception in Europe In the 1928, tired of the typecasting and lack of roles that should have been hers, Wong fled to Europe. Upon her arrival she told a reporter, "I was so tired of the parts I had to play. Why is it that the screen Chinese is always the villain? And so crude a villain--murderous, treacherous, a snake in the grass." In Europe she was a sensation starring in several noteable films such as 'Schmutziges Geld (Show Life)', and 'Großstadtschmetterling (City Butterfly)'. Her first stage performance in the UK she was criticized for her 'too American' (much akin to a 'valley girl') accent. Wong sought vocal tutoring at Cambridge University and obtained an 'upper crust' American accent. By the time she made it to Britain she filmed 'The Flame of Love' and one of her best known films, 'Piccadilly'. Critics loved her in the film; but once again racism reared its head. In the US screening of 'Piccadilly' the kiss between Wong and her white love interest was cut by the censors.Screenonline.org.uk Other celebrity milestones Wong was the first person to put a rivet in the Grauman's Chinese Theatre. . On July 2, 1928; Time Magazine wrote that . . .next month, Dr. Tien Lai Huang, 'Chinese Lindbergh,' hopes to take off for Hong Kong with a passenger, Anna May Wong, cinema star and daughter of a Los Angeles laundryman. She worked with and was friends with several major stars of the day including: Greta Garbo, Leni Riefenstahl, Marlene Dietrich, Ramon Navarro, Sessue Hayakawa, Douglas Fairbanks, Lon Chaney, Alla Nazimova, Frances Marion Personal life During her stay in Europe Wong learned to speak both French and German. She already spoke Chinese and English making her a polyglot. As an adult, her religion was Christian Science.Classic Images.com Wong had a younger sister named Mary Liu Heung Wong. She was a bit actress. Tragically she hung herself in the family garage in 1940. Wong was a cousin of cinematographer James Wong Howe. Wong loved reading especially on a variety of topics including Asian history, Lao Tzu, and Shakespeare. Her hobbies including golfing, horse riding, and skiing. Wong smoked, was an alcoholic, and suffered from depression. Relationships In 1941 Wong, 36, told Times: I've come to the conclusion that everybody should marry, including me. Wong never married, largely because of the Chinese custom of the time for a wife to stay at home, coupled with the anti miscegenation laws, though she reportedly was a mistress several high profile men. Director Marshall Neilan (who was 14 years older then her, supposedly Wong's lover when she was 15), Director Tod Browning (23 years older then Wong, when she was 16) and Pickford's favorite Cinematographer Charles Rosher (nearly 20 years older, when Wong was 20). British writer and broadcasting executive Eric Maschwitz was also romantically linked to her, while working in Hollywood, and the lyrics of These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) are evocative of his longing for her after they parted and he returned to England. The tabloids constantly questioned her about her love life; but Wong would never answer just smiling and saying 'its not true'. Death On February 3, 1961, Wong died of a heart attack in Santa Monica, California, after a long struggle against cirrhosis of the liver. She was 56 years old. Her cremated remains were interred in her mother's gravesite at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles. Several biographers stated Wong was buried in a grave marked only by her mother's name. Hodges. 2004. However a fan project found that Wong's grave was indeed marked with her Chinese name.http://forgetthetalkies.blogspot.com/2008/09/ftt-honor-project-update-to-miss-wong.html Even in death Wong's stereotypes followed her. Her Times obituary: Feb. 10, 1961: Died. Anna May Wong, 54 56, Los Angeles-born daughter of a local laundryman, who became a film star over her father's objections that "every time your picture is taken, you lose a part of your soul," died a thousand deaths as the screen's foremost Oriental villainess; of a heart attack; in Santa Monica, Calif. Legacy Wong was the first Asian actress to find great acclaim in American films. Unfortunately she was one of the last for a very long while. It took until the 1990s for fellow Asian actresses such as Lucy Lui and Sandra Oh to receive any form of attention from the American public. However no actress of Asian descent since Wong has been able to reach such acclaim, fame, stardom, and status. During her time Wong was famous around the world especially in Europe. In France Wong was a sensation. Her hairstyle and dance moves were copied automatically. Said of her, "She was the one American star who spoke to the French people, more than Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford or Mary Pickford, the top American actresses of the time. But ironically she's the one who's now forgotten." Unfortunately many silent films are lost forever. Many of Wong's lesser known silents are lost. However many of her films have survived and made it to DVD including 'Outside the Law' (1921), 'The Toll of the Sea', 'The Thief of Bagdad', 'Peter Pan', 'The Yankee Clipper' (1927), and 'Piccadilly' (1929). In 2003–2004, two biographies and a book on her career appeared, and extremely comprehensive retrospectives of her films were held at both the Museum of Modern Art and the American Museum of the Moving Image in New York City (the latter in 2005). Anna May Wong: A Complete Guide to Her Film, Stage, Radio and Television Work was written by Philip Leibfried and Chei Mi Lane. Anna May Wong: From Laundryman's Daughter to Hollywood Legend by Graham Russell Hodges made reference to her statement that she "died a thousand deaths." This quote is sometimes attributed to her believing in reincarnation, but others have indicated it was a wry observation on her characters dying at the end of films. For her contribution to the film industry, Anna May Wong received a star on the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 1708 Vine Street. She is also depicted larger than life as one of the four supporting pillars of the "Gateway to Hollywood" sculpture located on the southeast corner of Hollywood Blvd and La Brea Ave. Filmography film The Toll of the Sea (1922)]] Films Television References Bibliography * Bao, Weihong. "From Pearl White to White Rose Woo: Tracing the Vernacular Body of Nüxia in Chinese Silent Cinema, 1927-1931." Camera Obscura 60: New Women of the Silent Screen: China, Japan, Hollywood Volume 20, Number 3, 60, 2005. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, ISBN 0-8223-6624-X. * Chan, Anthony B. Perpetually Cool: The Many Lives of Anna May Wong (1905-1961). Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8108-4789-2. * Corliss, Richard. "Anna May Wong Did It Right." Time Magazine, January 29, 2005. Retrieved: March 20, 2008. * Hodges, Graham Russell. Anna May Wong: From Laundryman's Daughter to Hollywood Legend. Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. ISBN 0-312-29319-4. * Leibfried, Philip and Lane, Chei Mi. Anna May Wong: A Complete Guide to her Film, Stage, Radio and Television Work. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2004. ISBN 0-7864-1633-5. * Leibfried, Philip. "Anna May Wong: First Asian American Star!" USAsians.net. Retrieved: March 20, 2008. * Leong, Karen J. The China Mystique: Pearl S. Buck, Anna May Wong, Mayling Soong, and the Transformation of American Orientalism. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 2005. ISBN 0-5202-4422-2. * Lim, Shirley Jennifer. "I protest: Anna May Wong and the Performance of Modernity, (Chapter title)"A Feeling of Belonging: Asian American Women's Public Culture, 1930-1960. New York, New York University Press, 2005, p. 104–175. ISBN 0-8147-5193-8. * Liu, Cynthia W. "When Dragon Ladies Die, Do They Come Back as Butterflies? Re-imagining Anna May Wong." Countervisions: Asian American Film Criticism. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000, p. 23–39. ISBN 1-56639-776-6. * Sweet, Matthew. "Snakes, Slaves and Seduction; Anna May Wong." The Guardian, February 6, 2008. Retrieved: March 20, 2008. * Woo, Elaine Mae. "Anna Mae Wong - Frost Yellow Willows, A Documentary Film." www.anna-may-wong.com, 2007. Retrieved: March 20, 2008. * Worrell, Joseph. "Anna May Wong." Silent Era.com. Retrieved: March 20, 2008. External links *THE ANNA MAY WONG SOCIETY *THESE FOOLISH THINGS The Anna May Wong Blog *World of Anna May Wong" fan site at MySpace * *Anna May Wong at the Internet Broadway Database *Anna May Wong Documentary Home * Anna May Wong at Silent Era People * Anna May Wong Photo Galleries at Silent Ladies & Gents * Anna May Wong Tobacco Cards at Virtual History *Corliss, Richard. (2005). "Anna May Wong Did It Right" at Time Online. * *Discovering Anna May Wong at Sexy Beijing Category:Silent Film Actresses Category:1905 births Category:1961 deaths